Lupo's Pokémon Journey
Chapter One: Who's my Starter?= It was just another day in the Valnesse Region, but for the 13 year old Lupo Wulf, it was the start to an amazing journey. For the longest time, his mother had forbid him to go on a Pokemon adventure, claiming it was too "dangerous" or saying that he would end up missing, like his father. However, after much persuasion from both Professor Redwood and Lupo's younger brother, Anthony, his mother finally agreed to let Lupo go on an adventure. Lupo didn't just want the fame for himself, he wanted to make his family proud. He wanted to show them of what he was capable of, become a good role model to Anthony, and show his mother that he won't end up like his father. "Lupo, did you pack your bag?" asked his mother, overreacting as usual. "Did you tie your shoes tightly?" "Did you remember to bring water?" Lupo was ready to roll his eyes and stomp out, but tried his hardest to be on his best behaviour. "Yes mom, I remembered to do everything you just asked me about." said Lupo, ready to run out of the house at full speed. His mother only shook her head and gave him a sad smile. Lupo knew his mother didn't want to let him go, but she also knew how much he wanted to do this. He could only mutter a sad "Goodbye" before closing the door gently behind him. Once Lupo was outside, he shook off his sad face and put on the biggest smile a 13 year old could probably put on. It was the moment of truth! He was finally getting his first Pokemon! What more could he ask for? Thoughts of making his mother proud were all that he could think of as he skipped over to Professor Redwood's lab. He was going to be famous! The strongest trainer in the Valnesse Region! Only, he had to get his first Pokemon, or he was going to end up getting nowhere. Knocking as politely as he could, Lupo barely had any patience left for the professor to come and open the door for him. He had more things to think about, like getting his starter! But as the professor opened the door for him and walked him in, the next few words that the professor uttered almost made him want to cry. "Sorry Lupo, but I just gave away my last Pokemon to one of the other trainers!" the professor had said, smiling sheepishly at Lupo, while trying to figure out a possible replacement for the starters. Lupo was shocked, how could the professor just give away his precious Pokemon like that? The professor had promised! Now he couldn't go anyway, but only face his mother's "I told you so" look back at home. He wouldn't just go home like that, he would stay until the Professor could get him a Pokemon, any Pokemon. "Professor, are you sure you couldn't arrange something?" said Lupo, refusing to believe that the professor for some reason could NOT get any available Pokemon. "I'm saying Lupo, I don't have anything available! The only way to possibly get a Pokemon is to enter the tri- forget it." said Professor Redwood, shaking his head before he even said the word. Whatever it was, Lupo needed it. He didn't care what he had to do. He NEEDED his Pokemon no matter what. "Professor," breathed Lupo "let me enter whatever you just cut yourself off on." "Lupo, you don't understand how dangerous it is," said Redwood "I promised your mother I would keep you safe!" "Professor, I DON'T CARE. Sign me up for anything!" "Fine, I'll introduce you to the trial that you desperately need then." said Professor Redwood, realizing that nothing he said was going to stop the young trainer. The professor could only wordlessly lead Lupo to the back of his lab, where Lupo would meet his Pokemon. |-| Chapter Two: Meeting a New Partner & a New Rival= "In this trial, you will be befriending an Eevee." said Professor Redwood, his cheerful vibe turning much more serious. "If it likes you, it will protect you from the enemy Pokemon that is coming, but if it doesn't, good luck spending 6 months in the hospital." Lupo gulped, he was slightly regretting his decision now, but he couldn't just give up now! He was so close to getting his Pokemon, after all, befriending an Eevee wouldn't be that hard.. "I'm ready Professor," said Lupo, straightening his back and giving the Professor his most determined look. "Let me in there." The professor only led him in wordlessly, before giving him a short and solemn wave before leaving. This was it! The moment that he had dreamed about! This was much more exciting than getting a plain old Pokemon from the professors lab, he had to actually work for it now! It wouldn't be easy, but Lupo wouldn't give up until he went back out with his Eevee. Just as he was about to call out, he noticed the small brown bundle of fur in the middle of the cave, where the light shone. "Eve?" said the Eevee, raising it's head softly and giving him a glare, as if mocking him for intruding it's peaceful slumber. "Eevee, I'm your new trainer now!" said Lupo, reaching his hand out for Eevee. "We'll make great memories together!" However, Eevee didn't even listen to him, it was too busy napping. Lupo was frustrated, he couldn't even get a plain old Eevee to trust him! He had to think of a strategy soon, according to the professor, the enemy Pokemon could show up anytime. "Eevee, please listen to me!" said Lupo, growing desperate by the moment. "I need your help..please?" "..." "Eevee, we could do gre-" Lupo was cut off mid sentence, by the crazy calling of a wild Pokemon. He recognized it as a Fearow, and it was coming for his blood! He knew he had to get Eevee to act fast with him, or it would be the end of his Pokemon journey, when he hadn't even started it. He could feel it, the Fearow was getting closer and closer. He could almost feel the sharp beaks poking into his skin, drill pecking him to possible death. But, just as the Fearow was ready to stab him, it was suddenly thrown aside. "Eve! Eve!" said Eevee, jumping in front of him to protect him, instead of lazing around. Suddenly, not all hope was lost! Since Eevee had faith in him, Lupo thought that he might as well have some faith in himself. It was then that he realized something, he had to treat his partner with care, instead of a tool to fight and win battles for him. With the teamwork the two demonstrated, no sooner had the Fearow been fought off. "Great job Eevee!" said Lupo, giving Eevee a tight hug, which Eevee returned gladly. "Do you want to come with me on a journey?" "Eve! Eve!" "I'll take that as a yes then. How about I nickname you Umbra?" The name Umbra sounded so smooth and perfect for Eevee, who was brimming with potential. Besides, the Eevee he encountered was a male, and it was a strong name for it. Lupo had always been a fan of Umbreons, but he also admired Dark types in general. All was going great for Umbra and Lupo until he noticed a strange silhouette in the trees. The shadow was not familiar. Growing up in the small town of Sudbury, Lupo practically knew all the locals there. However, this person looked like someone he had never seen before. Slowly edging closer with Umbra in his arms, he came face to face with a girl. She had inky black hair, the darkest set of blue eyes that he had ever seen. Judging by the frown on her face, Lupo could tell that she wasn't a very "friendly" person. "H-Hi, W-W-What's your name?" was all he could supply, too intimidated by her glare. She didn't reply, only keeping her eyes on him warily. Now this was certainly surprising! Did she want to fight? Probably not, but he would never let an opportunity let this pass that quickly. He gave her a quick nod, signifying that he wanted to battle her. This is going to be easy! thought Lupo, after all, he had Umbra with him, who he deemed an unstoppable force. Little did he know, the person he was battling wasn't like any other person. "Do you want to battle?" asked Lupo in a clear voice. The stranger didn't reply as usual, only pulling a single Poke Ball from her belt "Let's do this! Go, Umbra!" Lupo exclaimed, starting to regret his decision the moment the battle began. "Riolu, show them what we're made of.." The battle began, and all was fine. Lupo had a pretty good command of Umbra until this happened. "Umbra, use Quick Attack to knock Riolu down!" "Dodge and finish his weakling Pokemon off with a low sweep," ''the girl whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear. It was over before it started, his rival had merely been toying with him, having gotten bored of him at the last second. It was clear, Lupo was still no match for the girl and her Riolu. "How did I lose? Umbra and I tried our hardest, I was sure we were going to win.." ''"You're weak. That's why," the girl stated quietly, the first clear words he had heard her speak. Lupo almost lost it right there. Who was this girl and who died and made her the queen of judging his actions? How dare she judge him, knowing fully well that he hadn't had his Pokemon for a day yet. "Who gave you the right to judge me?" hissed Lupo, "Who even are you?" The girl didn't even answer him, all she did was give him a sneer, and said something. But the next few words were words that Lupo would would hold onto for the remainder of his journey. "I don't give my name out to weak trainers, especially you." |-| Chapter Three: Clearsight Forest and some Fellow Trainers= Lupo barely talked on the way back. Professor Redwood greeted him with a smile and a congratulations, but noticed that something happened to Lupo. For some reason, he was acting differently than when he first went in. "Lupo, would you like to receive your Pokedex now?" asked the professor, as gently as he possibly could. To his disappointment, Lupo only replied with a "yea sure, whatever" and went back to his sulking. "Here's some Pokeballs to catch Pokemon with, Umbra's Pokeball, some Potions, and finally a Pokedex!" said the professor, handing him the necessities he would be needing on his journey. When Lupo didn't respond however, the professor got slightly angry. "Lupo! If you aren't taking this seriously, why don't you go home to your mother? I thought you were perfect for this, but I guess I'll have to save this for another trainer now." At the word "mother", Lupo perked up again. He couldn't let his mother down, and he was giving up already just because a weird girl had said some criticizing things to him? He wasn't going to be weak anymore, he would show her of what he's capable of the next time they meet. "Professor, thank you for this! I'll be off now to Clearsight Forest!" "No problem Lupo, remember to call me when you need to! Who knows, you might meet an old acquaintance of mine at Clearsight!" But Lupo didn't get to hear the last part because he was already out the door and sprinting into Clearsight Forest. An hour later, Lupo made it to the entrance of the forest. Along the way, he had caught a Starly, and he nicknamed her Starfall. It felt great to be on an adventure, something he never had the pleasure of being able to do until now. Double checking his town map, he walked in without another word. Clearsight Forest was famous for it's unusual psychic powers. During certain times, psychic Pokemon come out to play amongst the normal Pokemon found in the forest, and create an illusion. It is also a training place of our psychic gym leader, Divinus. What Lupo didn't read was, the WARNING that the forest was also very very dangerous around this time, and one wrong step could lead to an eternity of being trapped in there. Naive as he was, Lupo paid no heed and walked into the forest anyway. It was then, he realized that the forest had indeed gotten sinfully frightening, and started to regret his choice of taking this shortcut. Why did everything have to go wrong for me? Why couldn't I have just taken Route 1 like every other trainer? So engaged in his thoughts, Lupo didn't noticed that he had almost knocked over another trainer down. When he came to his senses, he found out that he actually did knock someone down! The stranger, he could tell was handsome, with his elegant facial structures, brown hair so dark that it could have been mistaken for black, and stormy grey eyes. He looked completely out of place, someone who should have been at a fashion show or a soiree instead of a dark and gloomy forest. "I'm so sorry! Mr..?" said Lupo, embarrassed of how foolishly he acted. "That's quite alright. The name's Arnold by the way!" Arnold. For some reason, that name didn't sit comfortably with Lupo. The name was too simple for someone who obviously looked like a fairytale prince. He would have question "Arnold" some more to see if he was dangerous of innocent enough. "So Arnold, Where are you heading?" asked Lupo casually, trying to make small talk with the stranger. "Oh, I'm traveling around the Valnesse Region! I hear Seacove Town is nearby, and I wanted to go sightseeing." replied Arnold, just as casually as Lupo asked him. Seacove Town. The place where the first gym leader would be, and it was merely steps away from this forest. Arnold seemed to know where he was going, so Lupo thought it couldn't hurt to bring him along for the ride. As the two walked together, Lupo noticed how out of place they looked next to each other. But trying to brush Arnold's intimidating nature off, he tried to make small talk with the latter. "So, why did you pass by Clearsight Forest instead of going by Route 1?" "Oh, I wanted to meet someone here. She should be near the exit of the forest." So he did have a reason to be here, apparently "waiting" for somebody. Maybe his girlfriend? Lupo didn't even know anymore. As long as Arnold could get him out of this forest, he was fine with whatever Arnold was going to do. Soon, they neared the exit, and to where the person who Arnold was looking for supposedly was. Lupo had to squint his eyes to see, but he could clearly see a person at the end of the forest, near the exit. The two drew nearer and nearer, and Lupo could see the faint outline of a person waiting. This stranger, a girl, looked like a complete opposite of the rival he fought back at home. She had Alice Blue hair, and blue eyes so light that they were almost silver. This person however, shared the same elegant facial features as Arnold, and looked like somebody who didn't belong in everyday society. This girl however, seemed twenty times nicer than the rival he fought, and someone he would enjoy being friends with. "Hi there! What's your name?" she asked, giving him a bright smile. "Lupo" "Wow, that's such a cool name!" He could tell she had a bubbly personality, someone who seemed way too naive to be doing all the way in a forest like this. "As a gift of appreciation, I think I'll give you this TM! It's TM 04, also known as Calm Mind." Calm Mind. Lupo didn't understand why such a vibrant and sunny person would give him Calm Mind, an TM that seemed like the complete opposite of her. Before he could say thanks however, he asked for her name. After all, Lupo had to make sure he got her name. "My name is Blossom, and I'm a rookie trainer from Greywind City." Greywind was so far away though, he couldn't understand how and why she traveled this far to start her Pokemon journey. Well, that didn't matter now. Lupo was more excited than suspicious of his new friends, and couldn't wait to see what they could accomplish together. The three walked into the light of Seacove Town, and with Lupo, blissfully unaware of the future of him and his friends. |-| Chapter Four: The Fairybook Town by the Sea= There it lay. Valnesse Regions most beautiful town, the only place that could rival Yggdrasil City, Seacove Town. It was a quiet town by the seaside, but the architecture and scenery put into it made it seem like a dolls village. There were flowers everywhere, and it only brought out the town's beauty even further. Seacove was where the first gym leader, Marina would be. Lupo had only heard rumours about the leader, and that she used to be a champion helmsman before retiring and becoming a gym leader. Speaking of people, Lupo wanted to ask if Arnold and Blossom knew about that rogue he fought. "Hey guys, I fought against this person lately and she didn't give me her name. I was wondering if you guys would know.." Arnold nodded and said, "Sure, what does she look like?" "Well, she has really dark hair, kind of like yours, and dark blue eyes. She looks like an opposite of Blossom." explained Lupo, thinking back to how the stranger looked. Lupo swore he saw a look of shock register across Arnold's face, before it disappeared as fast as it came. "Nope, we have no idea who she is. Never seen or heard of a person like that." Strange. I'll have to question them later about this.. thought Lupo, but brushed it off as nothing. He wouldn't let these kind of things get into the way of his friendship with his new friends. "Lupo, I think you should go catch an electric type Pokemon. After all, the gym leader does use water types, which are weak against grass and electric." offered Blossom, changing the subject before anything else could be said. "Where would I find electric types though?" "In the lighthouse over there, Mareep and Pikachu usually inhabit the inner sanctuary of the lighthouse." Lupo was surprised that Blossom knew all this, after she had claimed that she was just a rookie trainer from Greywind. Must have been her parents or friends who told her. "Alright, let's go get ourselves an electric type Pokemon then!" The trio headed over to the Seacove Lighthouse, which looked more like a princess tower than anything. With elegant green vines and vibrant pink roses, the lighthouse blended in just with the town. "Well, this is it! Time to get my third teammate!" cheered Lupo, who was in all honesty, super excited to get his new Pokemon. Walking in, he found the lighthouse to be just as beautiful on the inside, as the outside. It was covered in paintings, and places for electric Pokemon to rest and play. Looking around, he found a wild Mareep strolling around. "Why don't you catch that, Lupo?" It looks like it could make a good addition on your team." said Arnold, giving him a nod as a signal for him to go catch it. "Umbra, come on out! Attack Mareep with a Tackle!" Umbra came out, and immediately got into action. Charging at the Mareep, he managed to get a solid hit in, causing the Mareep to tumble down. However, when Umbra jumped back, he had been paralyzed. Lupo was surprised, he wasn't expecting for this to happen. "Mareep's ability is Static, there was a chance that you would get paralyzed." spoke Blossom, cutting through the silence. "Haha, thanks Blossom." Lupo didn't know what to do now, should he switch into Starfall or stay with Umbra? Starfall would definitely faint to Mareep, so he decided to keep with Umbra for now. "Umbra, can you handle two more quick attacks?" asked Lupo, genuinely worried for his partner. "Eve! Eve!" Jumping right into action, Umbra knocked the Mareep down with two swift and painless quick attacks. Seeing Mareep go weak, Lupo quickly took this opportunity to catch to quickly throw a pokeball at it. One Shake, Two Shake, Three Shakes, Caught! Lupo could hardly believe it, he caught his third team member, and in one pokeball attempt as well! It was a great moment for him to rejoice, he was one step closer to becoming the best trainer. "Arnold! Blossom! Did you see that?!" he called to the two, who were standing nearby and looking a little bored. "Yes, we did. You did wonderfully out there." said Arnold, lighthearted but serious at the same time. "Oh cheer up Arny! Lupo did great out there. Don't be such a grump!" said Blossom, giving him a light slap on the shoulder. Arnold didn't reply, and only gave a glare back at Blossom, who returned it with a big grin. "Let's head to the Pokemon Centre to patch Umbra up. Maybe we'll even run into the gym leader along the way!" said Blossom, shrugging Arnold's glare off and walking towards the exit of the lighthouse. Once Blossom went out, Arnold and Lupo were the only two left in the lighthouse. Lupo wanted to avoid this, but he found himself asking "Are you and Blossom related?" "What makes you say that?" The tone of voice that Arnold used, was one of playfulness, but also hidden with a threat. Lupo didn't notice it however, and continued on with his conversation. "Well, you two seem close, too close for strangers. Only siblings could achieve that closeness that you two share. You also share the same elegant features and the air of nobility, only children from Yggdrasil City could share." Lupo emphasized on Yggdrasil City, even he knew from the stories of his mother that the city was home to the nobility of Valnesse, and the Pokemon League. Arnold only gave him a hard look, almost confirming Lupo's theory, but suddenly bursted out laughing. "That's the funniest story I've heard in awhile. Tell me, where did you come up for such an amusing idea? This could almost go into a fanfiction, wouldn't you say?" Arnold's tone was sickly sweet, one that seemed lighthearted and friendly to normal people, but was actually manipulating them. "I, well, um..nvm!" said Lupo, too bashed to speak or bring up his random outburst again. "Lovely. Let's go see what Blossoms up to then? We'll just keep this between us, alright?" Lupo could only nod and follow, too scared and intimidated to say a single word back at Arnold. When they reached the outside, they found Blossom talking with another person. Lupo could tell that this person was different from the folks here. She had sea green hair, light purple eyes, and dressed in a sailor uniform for girls. Blossom noticed the two, and quickly introduced her acquaintance. "This is Marina, she's the leader of Seacove Town!" Lupo gave her a quick handshake and eagerly asked "Can I battle you right now?!" "Of course, but you should go heal up your Pokemon at the Pokemon Centre first. I'll escort you there, my gym is right next to it!" Lupo already had a feeling that he would enjoy battling Marina, something about her just seemed calming and relaxing to Lupo. "We've restored your Pokemon to full health! We hope to see you again!" said Nurse Joy, handing back Lupo's three pokeballs. Lupo thanked her and walked out. He was too excited for his first Pokemon gym battle, and didn't watch where he was going, resulting in him almost tripping into Arnold. "I can definitely tell someone's excited." said Arnold, amusement showing in his grey eyes. "Well, of course! It is only my first gym battle after all!" They had reached it, Marina's Pokemon gym. From the outside, it didn't look like much, like a regular gym. When he reached the inside, this was where Lupo could see the true beauty of the gym. Fountains in the shape of Lumineon gushed out water, while various trainers stood in the gym, waiting for a challenge. With no idea what to do, Lupo decided to go ask the gym guide about the gym. "Yo, champ in the making! Take a good look around you. In this gym, if you can find each seashell that matches up with the fountains, then you'll be able to reveal a path to Marina. Be careful though, you can only get all the seashells by beating all the trainers here!" Lupo groaned, he was already getting a headache from this. This was going to take a LONG LONG time before he could battle Marina. After what seemed like forever, Lupo had found the last seashell. Just as the gym guide said so, all the fountains had stopped, and instead, there was a straight clear pathway to where Marina was. Not taking a moment to hesitate, Lupo walked up to where he would battle the gym leader. "Welcome to the Seacove Town Gym. My name is Marina, as you know, and I will be your challenger today. As a sailor, I specialize in Water type Pokemon, whom are both elegant and powerful at the same time. Can you beat our perfect combination?" Lupo could tell this was scripted, as it every gym leader had to memorize a blurb of dialogue for their challengers. It didn't matter now, all that mattered was the intense battle that he would have to go through. "Sheeple (Mareep), we can do this!" "Mar, Mar!" "Squirtle, show them what we're made of!" Lupo felt a rush of adrenaline, this was it! This was where it would actually get serious, and he would have to play his cards right. "Sheeple! Use Cotton Spore on Squirtle to lower it's speed and then use Thundershock!" Sheeple jumped right into action. Using Cotton Spore and Thundershock, he managed to slow down Squirtle as well as hit it hard. Squirtle barely had any strength after that, struggling to stay up. "Knock it down with another Thundershock!" As much as Squirtle tried, it could not avoid the incoming Thundershock from Sheeple. As it lay fainted, Lupo could almost see the look on Marina's face go into one of internal rage. "I see how you want to play, Staryu, come out!" She summoned Staryu, a Pokemon who was definitely faster than Sheeple. Thinking keeping Sheeple out wouldn't be the wisest of actions, Lupo withdrew him, and decided to send out Starfall, his Starly. "Starfall, Use Double Team so Staryu would have hard time finding you!" Starfall quickly set up a Double Team, already giving Staryu a hard time of finding it. "Staryu, use Bubble Beam to knock down all those illusions!" One by one, they were knocked down, until Starfall was the only one left standing. Realizing that his attack had gone to a waste, Lupo decided to just attack Staryu. "Starfall, I want you to use Wing Attack with extra power!" "Star Star!" Charging up her Wing Attack, Starfall did not hesitate for a single moment before going into attack Staryu. What they didn't expect, was Staryu's other move. "Staryu, trap Starly in place with Psywave!" Snowfall was trapped in place by Staryu's psychic power. She couldn't move at all, and could only watch her HP get drained. Lupo couldn't handle this anymore, he ran over to where the beaten and bruised Starly was, and held her close to him. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Snowfall began to be engulfed in a white light! Evolution. Lupo had only seen this happen on television, so he couldn't believe that it was happening right in front of his eyes. Starfall was evolving! He could tell when her form changed larger and more powerful, that his Starly had evolved into Staravia! He could tell that Marina was slightly surprised too, she wasn't expecting this to happen during their battle. "Starfall! I want you to use Wing Attack and then connect it with a Quick Attack!" The much more faster and leaner Starfall went straight for Staryu, and this time did not give a moment for Staryu to recover. The force of the two attacks were too much, and Staryu was knocked out almost instantly. Lupo grinned at Snowfall and to himself as well! He was so close! If he could take down that last Pokemon, he would get his first Pokemon gym badge! His gut feeling told them that although he went this far, the next Pokemon wouldn't be as easy. "Vaporeon, don't fail me now." By the fondness in her voice, Lupo could tell Vaporeon was a personal favourite of Marina's. "Vaporeon!" There it was, the first Eeveelution that Lupo had seen. According to the rumours, all the Eeveelutions could be found at the gym leaders or Elite 4 battles. But here in all it's glory, was Vaporeon, the water type Eeveelution. It was oozing with power, and Lupo knew he needed a miracle, now or never.